LCC R1: Carlsen, Nakamura, Kramnik, Adams win

12/1/2012 – The 4th London Chess Classic started with a bang. Sadly for Judit Polgar, she still hasn't solved the Kramnik Theorem. Nakamura defeated Aronian, Mickey Adams beat Gawain Jones, while Magnus Carlsen came back from a near loss to Luke McShane and used his endgame magic to equal Garry Kasparov’s record 2851! Round one report with postgame analysis of the stars.

The 2012 London Chess Classic is taking place in the Olympia
Conference Centre from Saturday, December 1st until Monday, December 10th.
Games start each day in general at 14:00h London time, except for round four
(16:00h) and the final round (12:00h). Time controls are classical forty moves
in two hours, then twenty moves in one hour and thirty minutes for the rest
of the game. A win is counted as three points, a draw as one, and a loss zero.
Tiebreaks: 1) number of wins, 2) number of wins with black, 3) result of the
individual game between the tied players. In the unlikely event that there is
still a tie then: 4) 2 x 15'+2" games, and if necessary 5) Armageddon game:
6'+2" vs 5'+2" with draw odds for black. If there is a tie involving
more than two players then the Rapid games will be conducted as a double round
all play all.

Round one report

Round 1:
Saturday, Dec. 1st, 2012, 14:00h

Luke McShane

0-1

Magnus Carlsen

Levon Aronian

0-1

Hikaru Nakamura

Vladimir Kramnik

1-0

Judit Polgar

Gawain Jones

0-1

Michael Adams

Vishy Anand (bye) – assisting
commentary

Full report with commentary to follow soon...

Replay all the games of the round

Dr J Bhagwati, High Commissioner of India to the UK, plays the
first move for Luke McShane in his game against Magnus Carlsen

World Champion Viswanathan Anand and Dr J Bhagwati,
High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom

Before the start of the game Vladimir Kramnik vs Judit Polgar

What's he going to play? Luke McShane vs Magnus (let me check first what the
others are doing) Carlsen

All-English encounter Gawain Jones vs Michael Adams in round one

Armenian GM Levon Aronian in round one facing...

... top US grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura

Judit Pogar, the strongest female who ever played chess

Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, who vanquished Judit in round one

Analysis of the games by the players

Vladimir Kramnik analysing his game against Judit Polgar with GM Daniel
King...

... while Judit Polgar looks on without too much pleasure

Levon Aronian discusses his loss against...

... US GM Hikaru Nakamura

Magnus Carlsen analysing in the press center...

... with Luke McShane joining in gamely

Photos by Pascal Simon for ChessBase

Daniel King: Highlights of round one

Pairings and results

Round
1: Saturday, Dec. 1st, 2012, 14:00h

Luke McShane

0-1

Magnus Carlsen

Levon Aronian

0-1

Hikaru Nakamura

Vladimir Kramnik

1-0

Judit Polgar

Gawain Jones

0-1

Michael Adams

Vishy Anand (bye) – assisting
commentary

Round
2: Sunday, Dec. 2nd, 2012, 14:00h

Judit Polgar

Gawain Jones

Hikaru Nakamura

Vladimir Kramnik

Magnus Carlsen

Levon Aronian

Vishy Anand

Luke McShane

Michael Adams (bye) –
assisting commentary

Round
3: Monday, Dec. 3rd, 2012, 14:00h

Levon Aronian

Vishy Anand

Vladimir Kramnik

Magnus Carlsen

Gawain Jones

Hikaru Nakamura

Michael Adams

Judit Polgar

Luke McShane (bye) – assisting
commentary

Round
4: Tuesday, Dec. 4th, 2012, 16:00h

Hikaru Nakamura

Michael Adams

Magnus Carlsen

Gawain Jones

Vishy Anand

Vladimir Kramnik

Luke McShane

Levon Aronian

Judit Polgar (bye) – assisting
commentary

Wednesday,
Dec. 5th, 2012Rest day

Round
5: Thursday, Dec. 6th, 2012, 14:00h

Vladimir Kramnik

Luke McShane

Gawain Jones

Vishy Anand

Michael Adams

Magnus Carlsen

Judit Polgar

Hikaru Nakamura

Levon Aronian (bye) –
assisting commentary

Round
6: Friday, Dec. 7th, 2012, 14:00h

Magnus Carlsen

Judit Polgar

Vishy Anand

Michael Adams

Luke McShane

Gawain Jones

Levon Aronian

Vladimir Kramnik

Hikaru Nakamura (bye) –
assisting commentary

Round
7: Saturday, Dec. 8th, 2012, 14:00h

Gawain Jones

Levon Aronian

Michael Adams

Luke McShane

Judit Polgar

Vishy Anand

Hikaru Nakamura

Magnus Carlsen

Vladimir Kramnik (bye) –
assisting commentary

Round
8: Sunday, Dec. 9th, 2012, 14:00h

Vishy Anand

Hikaru Nakamura

Luke McShane

Judit Polgar

Levon Aronian

Michael Adams

Vladimir Kramnik

Gawain Jones

Magnus Carlsen (bye) –
assisting commentary

Round
9: Monday, Dec. 10th, 2012, 12:00h

Michael Adams

Vladimir Kramnik

Judit Polgar

Levon Aronian

Hikaru Nakamura

Luke McShane

Magnus Carlsen

Vishy Anand

Gawain Jones (bye) – assisting
commentary

The games – except for rounds four and nine – start at 2 p.m.
or 14:00h British time = 15:00h CET, 17:00h Moscow, 7:30 p.m. Chennai, 22:00h
Beijing, 01:00 a.m. Melbourne, 03:00 a.m. Auckland, 6 a.m. San José,
9 a.m. New York. You can check your location here.
Naturally the games will be covered live on the official web site (below) and
on Playchess. The games of round four begin two hours later, those of the final
round two hours earlier.

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official
web site and on the chess server Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client and get
immediate access. Or you can get our latest Fritz
13 program, which includes six months free premium membership to Playchess.

See also

12/23/2012 – We reported extensively on the wonderfully exciting chess that was played in London. But the Chess Classic is also a festival and provides exquisite enjoyment for visitors – especially those who are invited to the VIP room and the closing dinner. One keen amateur, Allan Beardsworth, describes the atmosphere and annotates the game his table played against the Classic masters.Discuss

12/16/2012 – As every year, this premium chess event ends with a magnificent dinner for special guests at the traditional Simpson's-in-the-Strand. Apart from prizes, speeches, a charity raffle and the dinner itself, the main attraction is a simultaneous exhibition with all the Classics players pitted against the guest tables. We include GM Jonathan Rowson's commentary on his game in our
big pictorial report.Discuss

Discuss

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